Man in Scarlet
by Crystal-Wind
Summary: This is a story before anything takes place in the game. The story is in Zanarkand, where Auron gets a chance at raising a child of a friend. R&R please.


Man in Scarlet  
  
1 By: Crystal Wind  
  
  
  
  
  
''Why do you hate him so?'' Tidus' mother asked her seven-year-old son. Tidus turned his head, an angry look upon his face. "Why?" she asked once more. Only this time, with tears. Tidus' blue eyes were filled with unexplainable hatred and anger. "Because I do…" he answered, " And I hope they never, ever find him either!" He ran towards his room. He would always run.  
  
  
  
  
  
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Auron looked upon the machina city from a high distance. The people seemed to be dots at this height. His good eye scurried about the tall buildings. Which meant nothing to him. He walked off the tall place to go to the streets to find answers. He would ask "Where does the son of Jecht live?'' Of course, someone could answer easily. Jecht was famous in Zanarkand, so the whereabouts of his home can't be hard.  
  
  
  
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Tidus' mother walked out to the streets as to get some things off her chest for now. Her little boy was filled with undeniable hatred toward his father. She knew herself she couldn't change that. She let out a brief sigh to prevent tear flow. She walked past a beatnik, who called, "Young lady, sing me a song!!" She ignored him, as she knew that beatniks were perverts who smoked.  
  
  
  
  
  
She listened to the somewhat unruly calmness of Zanarkand. Yes, it was a Sunday. So in which, most people were inside their homes, spending time with their families. She realized that she hadn't spent much time with her little boy herself either. She had been to busy looking for an unfound husband. She turned and walked towards her home.  
  
  
  
  
  
When she arrived, she noticed that the door was unlocked! She remembered to lock the door when she had left. "Tidus!" she called in panic. "I'm in the kitchen," Tidus' squeaky young voice had called back. A flow of relief rushed over her. "Tidus," his mother snapped at the little boy, "Why was the door unlocked? What if a person happened to just walk in and find you?!" Her angry eyes came off Tidus for a moment, only to find a man in the corner of her eye. She tried to scream, but her mouth went dry. She grabbed for a gun and pointed it at the man's head. "Who the hell are you?!" She looked at Tidus a second. "Tell Momma what this man did to you, Tidus, and I'll shoot his head off!"  
  
  
  
"Momma," Tidus frowned. "He's really nice." She clenched her fist for a moment then let loose. "Tidus," she took in a sharp breath. "You don't know who this man is and you let him in our home?!" Tidus sniffled a little. "He said he knew something about Dad. So I let him in. I thought you wanted to know where his was since-" He sniffled again, his eyes watering. "-You wanted to find him and he didn't do anything to me accept talk to me and asked me what I thought of Dad. He said that he knows Dad so he wanted to tell you somethin' ''  
  
  
  
Her eyes were once more place on the man. He looked at least 25. Maybe older. "May I ask what your name is?" He glanced at the woman. "Auron." Auron said. "Yours?" Tidus' mother hesitated. "Verla." Auron looked away. "What do you know about my husband?" Auron began to speak. "A lot. I'm a 'friend' of your husband. Only now-" Auron stopped to meet Verla's concerned eyes. "He's dead." A blank lie to cover up an unforgotten past. Verla's eyes filled with tears. She hugged Tidus tighter; her tears fell of his face.  
  
  
  
Tidus looked at Auron. His eyes were almost grateful and sad at the same time as well. "I'm sorry." Auron apologized to her. He started to walk to the door. Auron turned to face her. "I wish not to cause pain." Verla rose from the floor. "You didn't mean to…you were telling the truth to me." Auron looked at the small boy. He's sort of a crybaby. One time I told him to just give up and he didn't speak to me for a week. Tidus was still sitting on the floor, wiping off his mother's fresh tears. Auron observed that he had red-brown hair, like his mother. Only his eyes were full of pride. Like Jecht's.  
  
  
  
Auron had finally decided to fess up about why he was really here. Only so the woman wouldn't fuss. "Your husband made me promise something." Tidus was interested in the conversation now. "What? What?" Auron became annoyed for the moment with the child. "He asked me to protect you and your son." Verla seemed shocked for the moment. From the looks of it, almost embarrassed. "When?" she asked him. "Before he died…" Auron said faintly. Lies. I have no other purpose otherwise. Verla thought for the moment. "Well Auron, then you kind of part of the family now." Tidus seemed baffled with this idea, but didn't say a word. "Welcome to our home."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
My Blog.  
  
  
  
Gah! Yes, I know that chapter was corny. BUT NO FLAMES! Please?  
  
First of all this story was inspired by a story I had read and really liked. From the story, I have adopted the name 'Verla' for now. It's a really good story, so I like the idea of before Sin had ever arrived in Zanarkand and Auron seeing Tidus grow up. melt 


End file.
